Case Study Description of Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances
Analyzes the sport sponsorship relationship between a sponsor and sports entity as a form of co-marketing alliance. Provides a rationale for this and defines and explores through a series of in-depth interviews factors deemed critical to alliance success, including strategic compatibility, goal convergence, commitment, and satisfaction. While sponsorship partners believe that the relationship can function as a co-marketing alliance, their interpretations differ and this appears to stifle the relationship. The results also reveal, however, that approaching the sponsorship relationship provides valuable managerial insights and can have a positive effect on performance.
Swot Analysis of "Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances" written by Francis Farrelly, Pascale Quester includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sponsorship Alliance facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sponsorship Alliance, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sponsorship Alliance operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sponsorship Alliance
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sponsorship Alliance
Strengths Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sponsorship Alliance in Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sponsorship Alliance has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sponsorship Alliance in the sector have low bargaining power. Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sponsorship Alliance to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sponsorship Alliance in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sponsorship Alliance has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Organizational Resilience of Sponsorship Alliance
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sponsorship Alliance does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sponsorship Alliance is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sponsorship Alliance has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sponsorship Alliance has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sponsorship Alliance are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sponsorship Alliance digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sponsorship Alliance has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Sponsorship Alliance is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Sponsorship Alliance is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sponsorship Alliance to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sponsorship Alliance to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Sponsorship Alliance supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sponsorship Alliance vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Francis Farrelly, Pascale Quester suggests that, Sponsorship Alliance is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances, in the dynamic environment Sponsorship Alliance has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sponsorship Alliance has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sponsorship Alliance is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Sponsorship Alliance needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sponsorship Alliance to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sponsorship Alliance, firm in the HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances, it seems that the employees of Sponsorship Alliance don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Sponsorship Alliance 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances HBR case study mentions - Sponsorship Alliance takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sponsorship Alliance products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sponsorship Alliance needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Sponsorship Alliance has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Opportunities Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances are -
Manufacturing automation
– Sponsorship Alliance can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sponsorship Alliance to increase its market reach. Sponsorship Alliance will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sponsorship Alliance can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sponsorship Alliance can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sponsorship Alliance to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Sponsorship Alliance to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sponsorship Alliance can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Sponsorship Alliance can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sponsorship Alliance can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sponsorship Alliance operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sponsorship Alliance in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Sponsorship Alliance can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Sponsorship Alliance can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sponsorship Alliance has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sponsorship Alliance to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances case study. Sponsorship Alliance can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sponsorship Alliance has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sponsorship Alliance to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sponsorship Alliance to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Threats Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sponsorship Alliance can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sponsorship Alliance can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Sponsorship Alliance can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sponsorship Alliance high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sponsorship Alliance is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Sponsorship Alliance
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Sponsorship Alliance.
Environmental challenges
– Sponsorship Alliance needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Sponsorship Alliance can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sponsorship Alliance has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sponsorship Alliance needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sponsorship Alliance with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Sponsorship Alliance in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Sponsorship Alliance business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sponsorship Alliance demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Investigating Large-Scale Sponsorship Relationships as Co-Marketing Alliances is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Sponsorship Alliance needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
